Jean Brown

NEWPORT - Jean Brown, 1932-2011. On Thursday, December 29, 2011 at age 79, Jean Margaret Young Brown passed away at the Newport Hospital from lung and immune system problems.

She came to Newport in 1993 with her husband, David William Brown.

“Jeanne” was a librarian with the Newport Public Library, and was on the boards of several civic causes - among others, the Newport Substance Abuse Prevention Task Force, the education and lecture committees of the Newport Art Museum, and the curriculum committee for the “Circle of Scholars” senior seminars program at Salve Regina University. She served on an advisory board that was helping female offenders at ACI. She encouraged efforts to improve child literacy, after-school outlets, and handling of family violence. In 2005 she received a Community Service award and a proclamation from Newport’s Mayor for her dedication to substance abuse prevention. Recently she helped start the Newport Art Museum’s “Artful Elders” program. Jeanne’s 18 years in Newport turned out to be a wonderful capstone for a life already filled with useful doings.

Jean was born in Rochester, New York on December 8, 1932. Daughter of a university dean and Army Signal Corps colonel, her early life took her to Athens, Ohio; Italy, right after World War II; Fort Monmouth, New Jersey; then Falls Church, Virginia.

She graduated from Oberlin College in 1954, with a major in sociology. In 1955 at Iowa State University, she entered graduate studies and intern programs that focused on juvenile justice. There, Jeanne met Dave Brown, a Connecticut-born Ph.D. student in agricultural economics. They were married in Falls Church on December 27, 1956 and settled first in Knoxville, where Dave had become a University of Tennessee professor.

But soon Dave became involved in outreach education and international technical aid programs, and they were off to new places - Singapore and Malaysia (1958-60); College Station, Texas (1961-63); Puno and Lima, Peru (1963-66); Ames, Iowa (1967-68); back to Knoxville (1968-82); Rome, Italy (1982-88); Jakarta, Indonesia (1988-90); and Peshawar, Pakistan (1990-93).

Everywhere Jeanne lived, she was into causes and learning activities. In Singapore, she earned a Master of Laws degree by studying youth recidivism in Chinese gangs. In Texas, she taught English to Spanish-speaking women at the area prison. In Peru, she taught English as a second language, and arranged Peru-U.S. high school student exchanges. In Tennessee, Jeanne (now with two young children) was on law-enforcement boards at state and area levels that established separate programs and facilities for juvenile offenders. In Rome, besides learning about her ancient surroundings, she became a high school librarian. This led her to earn a Master’s degree in library science at Southern Connecticut University. In Jakarta, she organized a reference collection for its National Museum and volunteered with the USIS American Cultural Center. In Pakistan, she worked with the Austrian Relief Committee, the UN Drug Control Program, and other groups that were helping Afghan refugees to resettle and to reduce drug addictions.

By 1993 Jeanne had some lung problems, and the couple decided to settle down near the ocean, in Newport, where Dave’s grandparents had lived. Jeanne thrived amid her new surroundings and friendships. Besides her library work and causes, she took advantage of courses and lectures to become knowledgeable about historic preservation, art and cultural histories, and also international policy issues. She loved the ocean, and was a keen advocate of efforts to protect sea life, as well as inland natural resource areas and wildlife. She enjoyed folk music at Common Fence Point, on WRIU, and elsewhere. Some of her happiest times were when she shared Newport’s unique pleasures with visiting relatives - her daughter Cheryl from Oakland, California; her son Kevin, his wife and their two daughters from Miami, Florida; nephews and nieces from New Jersey, Arizona and California.

The Brown family is very grateful for the colleagues, fellow board members, neighbors and other friends who did so much to make Jeanne’s 18 years here so fulfilling for her. And for the competent, caring doctors and nurses with the Family MediCenter and the Newport Hospital who enabled her to stay alert and active until this past month. And for the Medicare that afforded access.

No services for Jean Brown are planned but, at the Reference Desk of the Newport Public Library, there is a memories book for people who wish to share aspects of their “voyages” with Jeanne that were especially meaningful. In the near future, her family will celebrate Jeanne’s life by sponsoring some local initiatives that help causes close to her heart.

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